The Chronicle of Philanthropy published an article this week about the Generosity Commission, a $3.8 million bipartisan commission from the nation’s biggest foundations. The commission’s purpose is simple: to investigate why giving has declined and to spur more generosity among middle- and low-income individuals. If you’re anything like me, you just blinked a few times… Continue reading Why the Generosity Commission is a waste of time.
It’s no secret that I’m a loud person. I have a boisterous laugh, I yell constantly, and at every performance I have ever attended, I’m always cheering at the top of my lungs, regardless of the format. Sorry, Seattle Symphony. Probably for the good of society, not everyone is like me. There are quiet people… Continue reading No, you can’t be silently anti-racist: how introverts can speak out against racism
I was sheepish when I said it, looking down the table of white faces in our first strategic planning committee meeting, “I think it’s a problem that we’re all white people here, that our leadership is majority white, and we’re making these decisions on behalf of the community, which is mostly people of color.” The board… Continue reading When well-meaning white women refuse to call out white supremacy
As a communications professional, I have a few tenets I keep close to my heart. Simple language is best. Awareness is not a goal. The Oxford comma is a requirement, not a suggestion. And perhaps the most important: self-interests are more effective motivators than altruistic ones. In nonprofit communications, I’m always redirecting people from altruistic… Continue reading The Selfish Reasons I Do Anti-Racist Work
Right now, the feeling I hear most about is powerlessness. We feel powerless to end a deadly pandemic. We feel powerless to end police brutality. We feel powerless in comforting or supporting our Black friends and loved ones. The world is big. The problems sometimes seem even bigger. That’s because the issues we’re up against… Continue reading Nonprofits: Stop Using the Passive Voice
Facebook is an obvious choice to market your event, with its 1.7 billion users. But with 38 million other Facebook events to compete with, how do you make yours stand out? Here are a few suggestions: Make it look good The best thing you can do to help your event take off on Facebook is to make… Continue reading Marketing Your Nonprofit Event Using Facebook
Everyone hates spam e-mails. We’ve all gotten more cash offers in our inbox that we care to remember and who knows how many Nigerian princes have waited patiently for responses to their carefully-worded e-mails. So when our e-mail servers began filtering out spam messages through junk folders, we all collectively breathed a sigh of relief.… Continue reading 5 Ways to Keep your Nonprofit E-mails out of Spam Folders
We all know that early January is the time to make New Year’s resolutions that we (hopefully) keep. Changing behavior is always hard, but this time of year makes us feel like it’s a little easier, a little closer at hand. This blog will outline some New Year’s resolutions to get more of your e-mails… Continue reading 4 New Year’s Resolutions for Better Nonprofit E-mails
Thanksgiving is just days away and I'm thinking about one thing: gratitude Note: This post is about gratitude in fundraising, but I'm also thinking about how we show that as reverence to the Native Americans whose land was stolen. Before you read this post, check out this map to find out which tribes' land you… Continue reading 5 Inspiring Ideas for Thanking Your Donors
Every organization wants to improve their website’s SEO (search engine optimization). We work hard to create engaging content, and improving the SEO for your nonprofit website is the best way to get more views, more comments, and more engagement. However, it can be hard to know what’s worthwhile to do, and what’s not going to… Continue reading SEO Basics for Nonprofits: Part 2
Allison Carney Consulting 